León zumbador (bramadera)

zumbador / bramadera

Source term: ZUMBADOR (Bramadera)

Spanish names for the bullroarer, both built from the sound it makes: bramadera from bramar, to roar or bellow like the wind, and zumbador from zumbar, to buzz or hum.

Etymology. Zumbador is a Spanish sound-name for a buzzing or humming object; bramadera is the Spanish rhombus/bullroarer term used in the Joaquín Díaz object label.

A bullroarer of holm-oak wood and leather from León, in the Fundación Joaquín Díaz collection: a flat blade seven by nine centimetres on a cord that brings the whole to 89.5 centimetres. In Spanish the instrument is named twice over for its sound — bramadera, from bramar, to roar like the wind, and zumbador, from zumbar, to buzz. Who last whirled it in León, and why, the collection did not keep.

Tiene una hendidura en el reverso y un agujero central.

It has a slit on the back and a central hole.

Fundación Joaquín Díaz collection, identifier 67

Particulars

Object

Folk bullroarer in the Joaquín Díaz collection; wood and leather, total length 89.5 cm with cord; wooden piece 7 x 9 cm.

Function

A sound-toy of the bramadera/zumbador family, named for the roar (bramar) and buzz (zumbar) it makes; elsewhere in Iberia the type is a children's toy and seasonal bird-scarer. For León itself no use was set down.